6/8/08

Pretty much the only bad thing I've got to say about prof. Cordain's book is that you'd almost have to be a freakin' millionaire to follow his weekly diet plan. Fresh blueberries everyday? Salmon, asparagus? Pffsh.On the other hand, I've argued with my friends that unless you're a very plain eater, cheap-paleo will be a lot more affordable than non-paleo. I probably safe a lot by simply not buying anything to drink or not buying candy etc. That said, there's still a lot to fiddle with.

Here's a random list of things I do to keep eating healthy somewhat affordable.

1. If you're going to freeze it, buy it frozen.Selling stuff with a short best-before date is a risky business. In the shop where I work we end up binning quite a bit of meat. And ofcourse this shows in the price. If you're going to freeze it anyway, avoid paying for things your shop throws away.

2. You kill it, you eat it.No discrimination on what part of the animal to eat. Liver is yumm, bones make good broth and the longer you need to cook it- the tastier.

3. Go lean.That said, consider what you eat meat for. It's the protein. And since meat is expensive, make sure you're getting enough bang for your buck. Normally just add extra fat with oils and save the fatty meats for treats.

4. Organic & grass fed/finished?Remember that post from MDA about the lean vs fat discussion? A single organic chicken breast costs about 7 euro's. Non-organic I can get a whole kilo of chicken breasts for that price, and even more if I'd buy it frozen. So, another benefit of eating lean, is that you can skip having to sell your kidneys to eat a piece of chicken.When you go for your fatty treats like bacon you want it organic/grass finished anyway because of the nitrates etc.

5. Shop often, preferably atleast every other day.There's always some sort of discount on vegetables. Shops buy big, they have too much so they put it on sale.. and that's when you buy it. Just make sure you use it quickly. They also sometimes put as much as a 50% discount on meat when it has reached it's best-before date. It might not be optimally healthy, but hey, you gotta make ends meet.Obviously you should be walking or riding a bike while doing this shopping....

6. Keep your pantry and recipe book well stocked.When you come accross one of those sales mentioned, you have to be able to actually use it. This means having a recipe, and not having to buy some expensive ingredient to go with it. That's where your pantry and freezer come in!

7. Go to the market at closing time.Dutch market's and farmers market's aren't exactly the same, but probably it holds true that the sellers want to get rid of their stuff. At the end of the day prices for perishable stuff go down, sometimes a lot. Buy it all, eat what you can and freeze the rest so that when you find a discounted piece of meat you've got something to eat it with ;)

8. Worry about saving big, and not so much about saving small.The best eggs cost twice as much as regular eggs, so buy the best eggs. A good organic can of tuna can be 8x more expensive than a cheap can with just water and salt added. Get the cheap tuna.

9. Consider wether you're actually saving money..Related to the above, buying a farmed non-organic piece of salmon doesn't mean you're saving. You're just wasting money on a not so good but still expensive product. Get frozen coalfish or something like that when you're going cheap and get a good, fresh, wild piece of salmon when you want a treat. You'll still be better off.

10. Don't eat so many fruits, berries and nuts.Seriously, you don't want to do it anyway because of omega balance issues, sugar issues, way too many calorie issues... and now you can also add the 'way too expensive' issue.Fruit and fresh berries are like paleo-candy. Before going paleo (or whatever) you didn't eat candy everyday either, did ya?

164 comments:

I started buying frozen blueberries in the winter because they're so expensive, even when they're in season. There's like 2-3 weeks in summer when they're cheap. I've rarely tried frozen veggies, so I may need to experiment more with that.

I wish my area supported walking & biking, but it really doesn't. Hardly a sidewalk in this town, although one main street does have a sidewalk that you often see people walking up & down to exercise, but it's residential, no shopping. The grocery store is only a mile from me, but on a busy 4 lane highway with cars going 60-70 mph. I do try to park far from the store & keep a brisk pace as I shop.

Sometimes I hate that our stores are so massive, but in the long run it's better that I have to trek a quarter mile across the store for one thing since I couldn't trek to the store to begin with. Lots of people walk inside our pitiful mall, too. It's indoors, out of the sun (which I'm sure all the retirees here try to avoid), and there's no traffic to get killed by.

Good advice on the fruits, berries & nuts. I probably eat too much, but they have replaced far worse foods, and I've been letting myself get used to the paleo switch slowly (better than burning out). This is also to help my husband acclimate without feeling like he's being forced to change.

But now that fruits & nuts are my normal "candy" I probably need to scale it back a bit. I may try to wait until autumn though, I can't see myself avoiding the summer fruit, especially since we got a farmer's market last week (finally!). I showed up two hours after it opened only to find out every bit of produce was gone in ten minutes. I did sit & chat for an hour with the vendors who were still there, I want the local farmers to know & like me.

And yes, I probably did eat candy everyday back when I ate garbage. Definitely sugar in some form everyday. I still struggle with sugar, it's so damn addictive.

Frozen veggies aren't nearly as tasty as fresh ones, but with proper prep it'll be good for emergency's, I'll post a recipe sometime soon.

It's a bit of a shame that I don't live in america, since that's where most of my readers come from.. Holland doesn't have farmer's markets, and it's very, very walking & biking friendly. Special roads and all that. No place without a sidewalk. I'm a lucky girl. But hej, good for you just working with what you've got :)

To be honest, I'm still a bit of a sugar junky myself.. It's tough to beat. We'll get there someday ;) And don't avoid the summerfruit! just cut back a little, I eat every other day or so. (it's so expensive) oh and eh.. enjoy it! mmmyumm.

Great source of low fat protien = Ostrich! it has sooo much more protien and so little fat compaired to beef (and even has a lower fat content than chicken)...its also cheap...buy it in bulk and freeze it!! - Available from your local farmers market.

Protien powder! - Some of you may find this expensive however if you are realy short on cash it is the way to go. 2-3 Spoons of protein powder can sort you out for your RDI (Recomended Daily Intake) of protein.....a decient size tub can cost around 20-25 euro's and last u around 2-3months......u will save in the long run! mix it with a freshly made fruit smoothie or somthing!

Of any fruits, berries might actually be the best, low glycemic and pretty low sugar (relative to other fruits). I'd cut out other things like mango, pineapple, bananas, etc., before worring about berries. Unless you are eating tons of them each day, they should be okay.Nuts are a hidden danger, though! So many calories!

Completely agree that that would be best for you health wise AT22 :) A real shame berries are so expensive, otherwise I would eat them more often. Luckily you can save up for them by eating less bananas etc ;)

Hey, nice post. I'm also a student in Amsterdam (just made my 1st month). Do you have any tips about shopping hear, with a balance between quality and price. I haven't found any frozen fruits for example and also nuts seem really expensive.

Get your chicken from the freezer at Lidl's, very cheap stuff. For nuts, try a turkish or similar shop, buy in bulk. But simply don't eat too much of it, because it'll always be expensive. Sunflower seeds are cheap, if not the healthiest pick.

For veggies and fruit go to the Saturday market.. you do have that in A'dam right? At the end of the day just buy whatever is left and chop it up for use during the week. Don't neglect the chopping up straight away, because otherwise It'll just go bad and you spend money for nothing.Don't worry about organic too much, first just stop eating any crap like grains- and then when you're richer you can go ahead and be all picky.

It's real hard to find frozen fruit, I get mine from germany- but that's quite a trip for you. Try your Natuurwinkel, I know the one in Deventer has them. Also get your gehakt there :)

Greatly appreciated your post, Naomi, as well as the subsequent comments.I found the only way I could avoid overdoing my nut consumption was to limit myself to unroasted, unsalted ones. Mainly almonds and the occasional handful of walnuts. They just don't taste good enough to binge on. I'm working up to buying mixed nuts, in their shells, slow me down.

The only fruit I'm tempted to gorge on would be the mangos from the trees in my yard. Luckily the season is short....

Has anyone found a protein powder that could be considered paleo in spirit?

The point is that you can get your fat from less expensive or less toxic sources. If you're not buying organic there are a lot of things mostly in the fat that you do not want. If you are buying organic it's pretty expensive, and that's why you want as much protein in it as possible. Eat some avocado or butter to go with it et voila.

Besides, it all depends on whether you do paleo according to cordain or not. I don't, but he sure tells you to go lean.

hello, i am a backpacker, for my job, i am also paleo, and i can't shop often. maybe once a week but most of my stuff has to last, since i am a wilderness ranger and there are noooo stores or anything near where i work. do you have any suggestions?

Great post Noami... I've been trying to live in the more paleo way that I can; my main restriction is, in fact, the cost of some paleo-foods; but your suggestions are really key points that I'll apply (some I already do). By the way, You're gorgeous...

hi Dutchies. I've been getting frozen berries from AH and if you sign up on their website from time to time they give you a 50 percent discount on these which is great. Great tip about the cheap nuts though - I will give my local Turkish shop a try!

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The point is that you can get your fat from less expensive or less toxic sources. If you're not buying organic there are a lot of things mostly in the fat that you do not want. If you are buying organic it's pretty expensive, and that's why you want as much protein in it as possible.

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